BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Louisiana could soon become the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms — in another expansion of religion into everyday life by a Republican-dominated legislature.
The legislation, which received final approval from the GOP-dominated state Legislature earlier this week, heads to conservative Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk. It mandates that a poster-size display of the Ten Commandments, in “large, easy-to-read font,” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities.
Similar bills have been proposed in other state chambers — including Texas, Oklahoma and Utah. However, with threats of legal battles over the constitutionality of such measures, no state has succeeded in turning the bills into law. If it is sanctioned in Louisiana, legal challenges are expected to arise.
Legal battles over the Ten Commandments in classrooms are not new, but have been going on for decades.
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a similar Kentucky law was unconstitutional and violated the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause, which says Congress may “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The high court concluded that the law did not have a secular purpose but served a clearly religious purpose.
In the reliably red state of Louisiana, proponents of the bill argue the constitutionality of the measure on historical grounds.
GOP state Sen. Jay Morris said Tuesday that “the purpose is not just religious to display the Ten Commandments in our schools, but rather their historical significance.”
Morris went on to say that the Ten Commandments are “simply one of many documents that show the history of our country and the basis of our legal system.”
The law also “authorizes” – but does not require – the display of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance in public elementary and secondary schools.
Opponents continue to question the constitutionality of the bill, saying the state will certainly face lawsuits.
Democratic state Sen. Royce Duplessis argued that while supporters of the legislation say the bill’s intent has historical significance, it does not give the state “constitutional coverage” and has serious problems.
The lawmaker also questioned why the Legislature was focusing on displaying the Ten Commandments, saying there are many more “documents of a historical nature.”
“I was raised Catholic and I’m still a practicing Catholic, but I didn’t have to learn the Ten Commandments in school,” Duplessis said Tuesday. “That’s why we have church. If you want your children to learn about the Ten Commandments, take them to church.”
The bill’s author, Republican state Rep. Dodie Horton, said earlier this session that the Ten Commandments are not just about one religion.
“I disagree that this is just Christian. But I have no doubt if that is so,” Horton said during a committee hearing in April. “That is not preaching a Christian religion. It is not preaching any religion. It’s teaching a moral code.”
Last year, Horton sponsored another bill that requires all schools to display the national motto “In God We Trust” in public classrooms.
But while lawmakers spent hours arguing over the Ten Commandments requirement, many opponents said there are other, more pressing issues plaguing the state.
“We really need to teach our children literacy, to be able to actually read the Ten Commandments that we are talking about publishing. I think that should be the focus and not this big, what I would consider a divisive bill.” Duplessis said.
Louisiana routinely reports poor national education rankings. According to the State Department of Education, as of fall 2022, only half of the state’s elementary and secondary school students were reading at grade level.
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